Summary: The tale of Inuyasha told in the modern world. Follow Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango as they search for the Shikon Jewel shards in today's world. Expect IK and MS. Also expect a little more emphasis on Miroku and Sango then what might be expected. The most important thing to note that the tale of Inuyasha is the same, searching for jewel shards, trying to destroy Naraku. Its the setting, and having to adapt to that is what's different. Don't expect every story arc to be there or to be exactly the same.

VERY IMPORTANT! (And some of this also noted above...heh, I'm being repetitive, but it is important...)

A few things to note about this fic: Kagome is not Kikyou's reincarnation and Kikyou is neither extremely important to the plot and may or may not appear. Other characaters may or may not appear. This doesn't follow every event in the story arc of Inuyasha, some of its changed to adapt to the modern world, some of it isn't even mentioned, others will be adapted to a shorter version. Some of the same things will stay the same.

The essential plot of gathering jewel shards and trying to destroy Naraku remains the same. Other things will be very similar and just adapted for the lack of characters.

I ask one thing of you readers, and that is to be flexible with the explanations. Such as, should a gun be able to take down a demon? Anyway, you'll have to read to find out my thinking on such things. However, if you have any such ideas or opinions feel free to express them in reviews!

WARNING! Shorthaired!Inuyasha makes an appearance…you have been forewarned, but don't worry : ), the long hair will be back after awhile!

Now that all the serious stuff is behind us, besides the disclaimer…I don't own Inuyasha by the way…we can move on to the fic!

Shards

Chapter 1

There it was, the Shikon Jewel. For being such a priceless item, the security around it seemed almost nothing compared to what it was worth. For a hanyou it would be no problem to get the Jewel.

Inuyasha observed this all from the large skylight window that looked down upon the Jewel and its resting place from five stories above. He was dressed in black. Baggy cargo pants with a more form fitting long sleeve T-shirt. A black beanie hat covered not only his dog ears, but the majority of his shaggy silvery hair. His outfit was completed with black tennis shoes.

He knew the merits for wearing black for such an activity as this. It let you blend in with your surroundings, the dark shadows of a cool moonless night. Not that he cared so much, what he was about to do, it wouldn't matter if he wore black or a tie-dye shirt. But black had seemed appropriate so black is what it was. The beanie was rather annoying; it made his ears itch, so he opted to leave it on the roof.

This was it. It was time. Inuyasha grinned, bearing fangs; he took one last look down at the Jewel and then crashed through the skylight.

Glass rained down to the floor as he briefly soared through the air. But he stuck one claw out and ripped in through a hanging banner. Still descending as his claws ripped through the banner, he glanced down at the scurrying guards below him. Then he ran out of banner.

That took him a bit by surprise, but he corrected himself by reaching out to grab a bar that held yet another banner. He made one revolution around the bar and then swung himself out to one of the tall Romanesque columns that were used more for decoration then actual building support.

A sharp, shrill sound filled the air as he dug his claws into the column and Inuyasha finished his descent with a leap toward the pedestal and held the Shikon Jewel. Landing gracefully on the ground he looked around at the guards who had managed to organize themselves in protectively in front of the Jewel.

"Is that all?" Inuyasha asked them. "The only thing standing in front of me and the most powerful object in the world is a bunch of weak humans!" He scoffed, despite the fact that they had all leveled guns at him. Guns would not slow him down enough.

"Get out of my way!" Inuyasha growled at them as he flexed his claws. He didn't give them time to consider. He rushed at them, giving the guards only time enough to get one round of shots off which he anticipated by jumping clear over them. Before they could turn around and attempt to fire at him again. He was punching and throwing the guards clear of the area. Satisfied that he had caused enough chaos, Inuyasha then leapt at the Shikon Jewel.

He laughed as he grabbed the Shikon Jewel, "Finally!"

With the Jewel firmly clutched in his hand Inuyasha leapt away vaulting over one guard and hit the floor running. Some more of the guards had recovered and were attempting to shoot at him, but he was moving to fast and was zigzagging way too much for them to get a clear shot at him. Any guards that stood in his way he just punched without slowing down.

"Ha!" Inuyasha shouted as he burst through the front door. But his victory shout was short lived.

Inuyasha grunted as he fit something thudded into his shoulder. "Ugh!" And then the realization came as he felt himself being thrown backward, a purified arrow…and that meant a priestess. "Dammit!"

"You demons…or should I say half-demons for your case, never think. It's always just about getting there, not getting away! Did you really think that the Shikon Jewel would only be guarded by regular humans?" The priestess demanded. Others stood beside her, all with purified arrows drawn and ready to be released, six in all.

Inuyasha breathed heavily as he felt the arrow in his shoulder, and he distinctly heard the guards approaching the doorway, which he burst through, just as he heard the priestesses approaching him as well. He was helpless to do anything as he felt his grip on the Shikon Jewel loosen. "No…"

The skies opened up upon him as he finally felt the Jewel slip from his grasp. The rain dropped onto him as he laid on the ground, helpless to move as the priestesses moved ever closer.

"What the…?" He faintly heard one of the priestesses say. "The Shikon Jewel?" A gasp.

Inuyasha made himself look, through his blurred vision to find that the lavender colored jewel disappearing. There was a sound of running footsteps, a blur of colors, a murmured "No," or was it a yell? And then some more words and a name stood out among Inuyasha's rapidly fading consciousness, "Naraku…"

Kagome woke with a start. Something felt…well the only word she could think of was weird. She felt a moment of displacement when she realized she was sitting with her head bent forward against her text book. She attributed the feeling, which was already fading, to the fact that she fell asleep on her desk studying for that big test.

"Test! Oh no, oh no, oh no…and I'm late!" Kagome shot up, nearly falling out of her chair as she glanced at her clock. In a blur of movement, she had washed her face, thrown on her school uniform, gathered her books, and run downstairs, nearly tripping over her little brother in the process.

"Kagome!" He yelled in protest.

"Sorry Souta! I'm late!" She shouted back, bounding into the kitchen.

"Bye mom, bye grandpa!" She said quickly as the two said family members sat calmly the kitchen. Her mother was making some breakfast in front of the stove and her grandfather was messing with some old relic or another.

"Bye Kagome!"

Kagome sprinted outside, taking in the cool morning air. She hopped onto her bicycle, pulling down on her green uniform skirt to try to cover more leg, and sped out of her family's shrine, dodging puddles, and soaking in the morning sun. The ride to her school was brief, and normally she would have opted to just walk, but because she was late, the bicycle would hopefully get her there on time. She nearly ran over a few people on the sidewalk in her haste, and in turn nearly got ran over by a car when crossing an intersection.

She came skidding into the school lot and quickly locked up her bicycle on the rack. The school itself had a surprising amount of space for an inner city school. There was an actual school yard with some grass, trees, and benches made for lounging before and after school. The building was modern, with plenty of windows and a grand entrance, which she ran to her books in her arms. Only a few people were still located on the front schoolyard. And most of them probably weren't even going to come in for their first class anyway.

Kagome continued rushing to her class, dark hair streaming behind hair and her uniform in a mess, getting there just as the late bell rang and taking her seat. She waved at some of her friends, as they smiled at her near tardiness. The rest of the morning seemed to pass in a blur. She took her test, and felt as if she drew a blank on everything and didn't answer anything when time was called. Struggled her way through the rest of her classes, she collapsed at her familiar lunch table with Eri, Arimi, and Yuka with a groan.

The other three girls glanced at each other.

"So Kagome, how was your-" Eri began.

"Don't ask." Kagome replied.

A moment of silence filled there lunch table.

"Hey Kagome, I hear Houjou might ask you out for a date soon…" Arimi trailed off.

"Mmmmm" Kagome made some sort of sound that only indicated acknowledgement, not excitement or disgust.

Another moment of silence.

"Someone tried to still the Shikon Jewel last night." Yuka said.

"What!" The other three shrieked.

"I know!" Yuka replied. "It's all real hush-hush."

"So how do you know?"

"Did they actually get away with it?

Eri and Arimi both threw out the questions. Kagome remained silent, but she was a little alarmed. This news troubled her greatly.

"Of course they didn't get away with it! Didn't you hear me say 'tried'?" Yuka snapped back. "I know because I was up late studying and I could see all this commotion down the street at the building where the Jewel is kept. I think there were at least six priestesses there. And who knows! Maybe there were some of the demon slayers and holy monks there as well. But the priestesses put up some sort of barrier around the person who tried to steal it. So it must be a demon that tried, and he must have been really strong to need six priestesses to hold off one demon. Then they carted him off somewhere…where do they take their prisoners anyway?" Yuka ended her recount with the question, tapping at her chin with a finger.

Eri and Arimi continued to grill Yuka with questions, but Kagome sat there thinking quietly to herself as lunch conversations buzzed all around her, her chin was propped up by one hand with the elbow resting on the table. Anyone who would have looked at her at the moment would have seen her with an intense look of concentration and a faraway look in her eyes. Her friends were too busy conversing excitedly over this news to pay much attention to her.

"The Shikon Jewel…" Kagome thought. "There's been a lot of commotion among the most powerful of demons lately; could this have anything to do with it? Not to mention that the news has shone that not only have the priestesses, but also the demon slayers have been busier than usual lately. Even the normal police force had a lot more action with humans acting up, getting mixed in with deadly youkai affairs."

Kagome also remembered the slightly disturbing news that the integrated human, youkai political system was facing serious problems, more than it should for its five hundred year history.

Then there was the talk of Naraku. He was a well known demon with a dark past and too much power in the business world, and if rumors were true, the political world as well. It was said that his power and influence were starting to match with some of the most powerful and influential youkai families such as the Inu Youkai, the dog demons.

If what Yuka said was true, then this would be the fifth time someone tried to steal the Shikon Jewel in the past year. And that was just the known attempts. Kagome didn't understand what it was about the Jewel. Sure it was pretty and very valuable. Rumor was that it had been around for more than a thousand years and used to symbolize something of great purity, but why were so many people trying to get it?

With her thoughts on the Shikon Jewel, Kagome got that weird feeling again from when she first woke up. She closed her eyes, hoping it would pass, but it remained. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was unsettling. She abruptly stood up, her chair scraping against the ground. Eri, Arimi, and Yuka all looked up startled, by her sudden movement.

"Excuse me, you guys. I have to go to the bathroom." Kagome said, making up the lie easily. She fled the lunch room, not waiting for her friends' response.

"Miroku!"

Miroku slowly sat up; he recognized that voice and felt no need to rush. The knocking on his well-furnished hotel room door continued as the being on the other side continued to knock and offer apologies for disturbing him.

One wouldn't think that a monk would or could afford to stay in a hotel such as the one he was in. However, Miroku was a different sort of monk, and when explaining to the manager that he just had to stop because on his way by, he "sensed" the original blessings on this building fading his. And of course it would be no problem for him to go through the hotel and bless it, while making sure there were no curses or unwanted demons. And the manager of course insisted that Miroku should stay at his hotel as long as needed, free of charge. What else was there to do but accept such a generous offer, even when performing such "duties" were what monks were suppose to do in the first place.

Miroku roused himself, clad only in a pair of boxers and a cloth wrapped in rosary beads on one hand; and decided he had let the creature outside suffer for long enough.

"Good morning Hachie!" Miroku said brightly to the raccoon demon as he opened the door.

"Miroku, thank you! You are needed at once!" The flustered little raccoon demon said as he bounced from one foot to another in the brightly lit hallway.

Miroku looked bemused. "By whom? I only just arrived here last night, how could anyone know I'm here?"

"The priestesses sir!" Hachiemon squeaked

A knowing look crossed in front of his face. "Now why would they need me?"

"Someone…someone tried to steal the Shikon Jewel!" Hachiemon stuttered out. "They of course knew you were in town and decided to consult you on matters concerning the thief because your powers as a monk are well known, even to the priestesses."

Miroku sighed; he ruffled his dark hair with his one good hand and turned around. "Give me a moment to get dressed; I'll meet you in the lobby."

He could practically see Hachiemon bowing and closing the door behind him in his mind's eye. He knew the raccoon demon said some parting words, but they were lost on Miroku as he thought on other matters.

He had thought to say no, screw the priestesses, and go back to bed. He had been up late last night, up to his usual activities involving alcohol and women. In truth he was probably the worst behaved monk in history, but his religious powers were unrivaled, and he knew that was the only thing that kept him at the monastery in his youth and off the streets.

Miroku's thoughts turned to something else as he looked at his rosary covered hand and a troubled look crossed his face. "This smells of you Naraku. Could I finally be lucky enough to meet you? But of course you would never be so careless as to do something such as this yourself. Even if it isn't you…hopefully I can at least get some answers from whatever lackey you sent. One day Naraku…one day."

Miroku dressed in his more ceremonial monk robes for this outing to the priestesses' temple. He also opted to carry his staff; his sign of office will him as well. Unbeknownst to most, his staff, Shakujou, carried quite a few more holy powers than a normal monks staff. He used this to his utmost advantage in most situations.

Just the other day he had exorcised a demon that had been quite surprised at the power he held. It was through this that he learned more of Naraku and his shadowed movements behind his business, power, and respect, and also of the ever increasing power and respect he held among even the strongest of demons.

What Miroku did know was that Naraku was scheming something, something that most of the everyday humans in the world and some of the demons would know nothing of until too late. He just didn't know what it was. What Miroku also knew, was that if he could stop Naraku and defeat him, he would be rid of his curse.

He clenched his rosary covered hand, grabbed some extra ofuda just in case and sat off down to the lobby to meet Hachiemon.

Sango sprinted across the roof tops, dodging air conditioners, potted plants, and benches that people used to decorated their roof tops, along with a few clothes' lines; jumping to the next roof each time one ended. Her query was just ahead, a lizard demon, and a nasty creature at that. She heard a couple of shouts of encouragement from the streets below as people stopped in their daily activities to watch a demon exterminator at work, but she ignored them and focused on her task at hand.

She dressed in her customized exterminator's uniform. Black pants that flared at the knee hiding two youkai bone knives whose hilts jutted out from the top of her black boots. She wore a black, form-fitting tank top. The pants and tank top were made from a very durable material that nearly refused to tear and added extra protection from any number of demons as well. Her hands and wrists were donned with black fingerless gloves, and were additionally wrapped with a pink cloth like material that extended from her wrist to elbow and tied in a tight knot at the end. That same material was wrapped low around her hips, holding a short katana, and on her other hip a black studded belt, clinched beneath the pink material, held a handgun, which she generally did not care to use. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with a few strands hanging across her face. Hanging gracefully from her neck, on a metal chain was her symbol of occupation, a pendant that identified her as a demon exterminator.

Despite the cool morning, Sango was sweating slightly from her exertions. After being dispatched to deal with the lizard demon, she had encountered the trouble-making demon on a street corner a few blocks from where her original coordinators had marked the presence of the fugitive demon. It was harassing some humans and lesser demons, and had already killed one or two. The street would normally have been quite busy, people milling about, shopping, going to work, out for breakfast at the numerous shops and stores that lined the popular street, but most had fled, and those who hadn't were either hiding in nearby stores, or being harassed by the demon. Taking lawful action, Sango had approached to tell it to either surrender for trial and judgment or die. The lizard demon had sneered at her, obviously only taking her in as a young human female, despite the large firecat demon beside her. A fight had ensued with a few other demons, followers of the lizard demon most likely, jumping in and the lizard demon scurrying up the nearest building and running off.

Leaving her Hiraikotsu, knowing it would only get in the way in such a chase, Sango had left Kirara to deal with the other demons, and followed the lizard demon by running into an alley between two buildings. Using her athleticism, and the nearness of the two buildings, she had jumped between the two. Pushing off from one wall and then from the next, reaching a little higher with each jump, springing from one wall to another, she made it to the top and began her roof top chase after the demon.

Sango gritted her teeth as she reached the end of one building and made the jump to the next, barely clearing the gap as she extended her arms to grab on to the ledge. Hanging briefly she scrambled up and vaulted over the ledge and continued sprinting across the rooftop.

She let out a groan of frustration when she saw the next building and the lizard demon climbing up its many stories. Despite the fact that she clearly could not make the jump due to the next building being at least ten stories taller then the one she was presently on, Sango did not slow down.

"Here goes nothing…" Sango thought, as she leapt from the building, drawing her katana in the process. Using the sword she shattered the glass, and landed on the third floor of the office building. Doing a neat forward roll, she sprung to her feet immediately, ignoring the shocked looks of the office workers. She yelled for the stairs, and received an answer that pointed a short distance to the left.

She ran toward the stairs and only hoped that by the time she got up to the top the demon would still be there, thinking that the human girl would not think or be able to follow. She burst through the door that led to roof and was met by a screech of outrage from the demon.

Her legs burned at this point, but her adrenaline was pumping and she heard the distant roar of Kirara letting her know that she was coming. She grinned at the demon and gripped her katana even more tightly.

"I'll give you one last chance…surrender and go in peace and face justice, or face me and die." Sango gave her warning.

The demon laughed. "This is all the youkai taijiya can send now, a young girl? I think I'll take my chances and let you die."

"Fine." And without warning, Sango charged at her opponent, despite holding only one of her less skillful weapons. A flurry of motion followed, and at first Sango had the upper hand. But then the demon unleashed some sort of acidic breath, and to dodge it, Sango had flipped around so that her back was right up against the ledge.

The demon laughed, obviously pleased with itself, and charged at her with its full weight. Sango had no chance to move, and with a look to see Kilala approaching ever closer, she took the hit. She reacted immediately by slashing at the demon with her sword. It dodged the hit by moving to the right, but that was just what she wanted. Using the demon's momentum from charging at her and dodging right, she clenched her free hand around the lizard's scaly wrist in a death grip and let her weight help bring the demon toppling down with her.

The demon growled, obviously surprised, but in turn grabbed her sword hand and forced her to drop the weapon with the pressure put upon it. She heard the shrieks below as people spotted them falling, and knew with roughly only fifteen stories she would not have much time to act. Her hair was whipping by her, and the demon let go of her hand. However, he was falling nearly on top of her, and she would land on the bottom with no hope for her if she did nothing soon. She could hear Kirara roaring behind her as the firecat came rushing toward them, and with that knowledge, she acted fast.

Bypassing the gun at her hip, Sango reached for the two youkai bone daggers in her boots. She was almost afraid that her pants would get in the way but she managed to draw both out quickly. She stabbed the surprised demon in the shoulder, and using that little bit of leverage in midair and heavier weight of the lizard, she managed to roll around on top of the demon. Using her second dagger, sticking it in the gut of the lizard, she used it to push her self up, buying her a precious second and send the lizard plummeting even faster to the earth.

The lizard hit the ground with a thud, and just when Sango thought it was too late for her Kirara came swooping in beneath her.

Sango sighed as she thudded into the soft fur of Kirara's back, feeling the firecat absorb her weight, by dropping a little bit more and flying to one side, before finally touching the ground.

The people in the streets had all moved to the side, wary of the groaning lizard demon, writhing on the street. It was dying; the deep pool of youkai blood the sounds made it obvious. Sango got off Kirara with shaky legs and walked over to the demon, drawing her handgun. She stood above the demon, calmly aimed and fired the mercy shot at the youkai's head.

A/N: So that's it for the first chapter. Many things will be answered in the second chapter, such as: If Kikyou isn't involved, why exactly was Inuyasha was trying to steal the Shikon Jewel? How do demons and humans (and half-demons) interact together in the modern world? How do the priestesses and monks function in the modern world full of demons, specifically one certain monk…who shall remain nameless, but I'm pretty sure ya'll can figure it out…? Same goes for the demon exterminators…

More things to come as well. Miroku and Inuyasha will meet. Kagome continues to feel weird, for the lack of a better word. And Sango begins the exterminator job with the rest of the exterminators that will change everything about her world. And Shippou might possibly enter the story!

I hope there weren't too many mistakes, spelling/grammar errors, etc...

Reviews are greatly appreciated. They keep me motivated and writing faster, not to mention keep myself interested in my own story!

Till next chapter I wish upon all of you pink shoelaces and plenty of Inuyasha to satisfy everyone's needs.